badly off
In dire straits
Badly off means in unfavorable circumstances, especially regarding money.
Someone who is badly off lacks financial resources or faces hardship: The family was badly off after the factory closed.
The phrase can also describe non-financial disadvantage: You're not so badly off compared to others.
The opposite is well off.
Completely without money
- bankruptUnable to repay debts
- insolventUnable to pay debts
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
- destituteUtterly without means
broke · debt-ridden · penurious · indigent · hand-to-mouth · paycheck to paycheck · overextended · indebted
Wanting in essentials
- deprivedLacking necessities
- wantingAbsent or insufficient
- lackingBeing without something
- impoverishmentState of extreme deprivation
scarcity · poverty · privation · squalor · malnutrition · hunger · homeless · dispossession
Experiencing serious difficulty
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- misfortuneAdverse circumstance or event
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
- hard timesPeriod of difficulty
crisis · distress · plight · tribulation · ordeal · setback · affliction · troubled
Lacking usual social advantages
- marginalizedPushed to society's edges
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
- vulnerableOpen to attack
- excludedShut out, denied entry
oppressed · underserved · neglected · voiceless · powerless · discriminated · stigmatized · alienated
penniless
Completely without money
- bankruptUnable to repay debts
- insolventUnable to pay debts
- impoverishedExtremely lacking in money
destitute · broke · debt-ridden · penurious · indigent · hand-to-mouth · paycheck to paycheck · overextended · indebted · defaulting
needy
Wanting in essentials
impoverishment · scarcity · poverty · privation · squalor · malnutrition · hunger · homeless · dispossession · without
struggling
Experiencing serious difficulty
- sufferingSustained experience of distress
- misfortuneAdverse circumstance or event
- adversitySevere difficulty or suffering
hard times · crisis · distress · plight · tribulation · ordeal · setback · affliction · troubled · burdened
underprivileged
Lacking usual social advantages
- marginalizedPushed to society's edges
- disenfranchisedDeprived of voting rights
- vulnerableOpen to attack
excluded · oppressed · underserved · neglected · voiceless · powerless · discriminated · stigmatized · alienated · dispossessed